There's a coreMIDI controller called 'piano apprentice' made by Ion and sold by places such as Maplin in the UK. It's cheap and cheerful, and really aimed at iPad novices. However, being coreMIDI capable - and available on eBay for around the £25 mark - this may well be a very cheap way of getting a 2-octave controller which is iPad ready. Certainly much cheaper than an iRig Keys or a used 2-octave and a camera connection kit. If it works, it's a compact travel setup, made even cooler because it's battery powered as an option. This, audiobus, any synth of your choice and a free overdubbing recorder app is a proper rucksack studio.

However, as yet it's untested and there's little information on the web about it. For example, I don't even yet know if it has octave transpose.... But...... In the interests of science, I've ordered one and over the coming week will try it all out. That's the kind of love I have for you all.

OK, tested, it's brilliant. Not only does is feel reasonably well built (though plastic through and through) but it's a completely independent setup. The ipad connector cable not only lets me control Nave, Thor, Animoog and the others that are coreMIDI compatible, but the unit has two built in speakers and the sound comes from those. With just this and an iPad you have a portable, battery powered 2-octave synth with built in monitors.

Now, there's no headphones socket but you could just use the ipad's, and the speakers aren't going to find their way into any professional studio anytime soon, but the ability to sit anywhere and play your synths with a massive GUI and touchscreen control is great. The keys are mini sized, but actually their action is not half bad considering, and there's no flex in the keyboard when you press on the keys. The keys light up (after all, this is aimed at beginners) but adtually it's strangely retro-cool, in a Jarre-Harp kind of way!

This and Sunrizer is a 2-octave mini-JP! Interfacing it with a studio setup might be a case of connecting a stereo mini-TRS splitter from the headphones out socket, but I didn't buy it for that. I bought it for a travelling studio setup, and I don't think there's any other solution on the market that brings speakers, an ipad connection and a keyboard for the price they go for on eBay.